Pull the plug on Powell

On April 24, at Glen Canyon Dam, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation launched a high-flow experiment, a simulated spring flood that released 39,500 cubic feet of water per second for 72 hours. The experiment ran until April 27, at which point the river’s height reached 13 feet – about 5 feet above its norm. The flood was meant to distribute sand and sediment built up from the Paria and Little Colorado rivers, improving beaches and sandbars along the banks of the river, which are vital to its ecosystem.

I arrived the day after the experiment launched, after the river had already submerged many beaches and plants. On the dam lookout, it appeared that there was a great amount of water in Lake Powell, though on the ground, the reality was not that. 

Arriving at Lone Rock Campground, on the western edge of Lake Powell near Wahweap, I didn’t think much of the beach that ran for about a mile along the thin strip of water. Although, after further inquiry, I found that the beach had at once been submerged under 70 feet of water. Apparently, it used to be possible to ski around the rock for which the campground was named, though it was now about 500 feet away from the water.

Such high-flow experiments release less than half as much water as used to flow through the Colorado  in a good spring season. The average was around 71,000 cfs. There has not been a high-flow experiment since 2018 due to a decades-long drought in the Southwest.

Regardless, the Colorado River remains described as one of the most regulated rivers in the world, which allows for a thriving economy within its basin. Is it estimated that the Colorado contributes an estimated $1.4 trillion to the nation’s economy annually. This wouldn’t be possible without the dam and diversion network along the Colorado.

In 1931, in Black Canyon, Ariz., Hoover Dam, which created Lake Mead, was constructed. It was meant to provide three things: electricity for surrounding metropolises; drinking water for the surrounding area and water storage. On the other hand, Glen Canyon Dam, which created Lake Powell upstream from Mead, was built for power production for surrounding rural communities. This was mostly because of the legally binding 1922 Colorado River Compact. 

In short, the compact decrees that, over any 10-year period, the Upper Basin states (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico) must send 82.3 million acre-feet to the Lower Basin states (California, Nevada and Arizona). This allows the discharge to fluctuate over time, though the drought has created lower inflows, resulting in a major imbalance of in-and-out flows within the reservoirs.

These low water levels are not only threatening to humans, but also to the ecosystems within the Colorado River Basin, namely the Grand Canyon. Before Glen Canyon Dam, the Colorado transported about 65 million tons of sediment through the canyon annually. Now, all this sediment is trapped behind Glen Canyon Dam. These high-flow experiments are a desperate attempt at mimicking the natural process since the sediment distributed is only a fraction of what used to occur in the Grand Canyon.

The drought has been key in exposing how over-allocated the Colorado River really is. The river struggles to pump out enough water year after year, which brings up questions about how to deal with this shortfall. Most solutions point toward the individual using less water. However, since 80% of the Colorado River’s water goes to farming, that option will have little effect. Therefore I propose another option: draining Powell. 

The option is extreme, though under current conditions, scientists predict that the reservoir will never fill again. The reservoir has struggled to hold onto its power pool for years now, meaning that hydroelectric power production has been at risk. With sustained drought, dead pool – the level at which no water has dropped so low it is no longer able to flow through the intake tubes – is also becoming more of a possibility. This would not only put the Grand Canyon’s ecosystem in jeopardy, it would also put the entirety of the Lower Basin’s water supply at a very real risk. Lake Mead would have to virtually cease operations, and the lower reservoirs would likely receive little to no water. If Powell was to be drained, Mead could be restored to a thriving reservoir and be a strong buffer for any future drought.

Powell will not be able to provide for humans, and at the same time would endanger the Grand Canyon. It has become clear that Powell is no longer sustainable.

– Toby Philipp, Animas High School